The After-Party
by damnitnikki
Summary: Danny is alone after the disaster party has finally ended. (Post 1.20)
1. Chapter 1

Danny opened a beer, tossed the bottle opener on the floor, and fell back on the couch. He let out a long sigh and sank further in the cushions. He took a swig and found himself staring at the ceiling.

_That went well, _he said to himself. He scoffed. God, he should have told Alex that the party wasn't a good idea, stood his ground, like a man. Men stand their ground. But, she seemed so excited that she was "opening him up", whatever the hell that is. What is it with girls always wanting to change their boyfriends? Danny was happy the way he was, thank you very much. He was a relatively content person, no matter what Mindy said.

Ugh. Mindy.

It's all her fault. It's _always _her fault. Whenever something went relatively wrong in his life, Mindy was always behind it. God, it was always her. Her and her stupid, pseudo-psychotic, romantic comedy crap ideas about how life should be. That isn't life. That isn't reality. Reality is, you meet a girl, you fall in love, you get married. After a few okay years, you come home a day after your fifth anniversary to find her in bed with the guy from across the hall. That's life.

Mindy, on the other hand…Mindy wanted the fairytale. Which, did not exist. How many times has he told her that? She never listened, that was her problem. She only saw what was right in front of her, and what's right in front of her was often jackasses and losers. Josh, the guy who dumped her for that other Indian girl, and now the prostitute.

"Who brings a _prostitute _to a party?" he cried out to the air.

He took another swig of beer and got himself off the couch and started to walk around aimlessly. God, what was wrong with her? He rolled his eyes. How many times a day did he ask himself that question? When it came to Mindy, he just didn't understand.

She was a successful doctor in New York City. She was smart, she was funny (when she wasn't being downright irritating), she was caring. Why couldn't she find the guy who could appreciate her, _all _of her. Her hair, her smile, her eyes.

Danny stopped in his tracks and pinched his nose when he thought of her eyes. He then thought about their conversation they had outside.

_I didn't ask to be your friend._

The words rung in his ears. All he could see was the hurt in her eyes when that came out of his mouth. God, he was such a dick. He was also pretty sure that if Parker hadn't interrupted, he would have said more things he would've regretted.

He took another swig and back up into the counter. He found himself sitting on a barstool, where he finished off the beer. He looked at the empty bottle and contemplated getting up and going to bed. No. Danny decided that he needed to get drunk.

So, he shuffled to the fridge. He opened it and grabbed another bottle of alcohol, and took the cap off like a robot. He didn't even bother to sit back down. In less than a minute, maybe a minute and a half, the beer was down his throat. He tossed the empty bottle in the trashcan.

Who did she think she was? She was always giving him "life advice" when her life was an absolute wreck. She was always more interested in other people's business when she should really be focused on her own. God, she was such an idiot. For such a smart woman she was such an idiot.

Danny opened the fridge again, but stopped himself. He turned on his heel to the liquor cabinet. He found a bottle of Jack in the back and he grabbed a glass.

He poured himself three fingers, swirled it around, and sipped. His father always said that a gentleman savored the taste of whiskey. It was ironic. The bastard was an alcoholic, and a son of a bitch, but that's the one thing he did right. He knew how to choose a drink.

They were brown. Mindy's eyes were brown, deep brown. They were really easy to get lost in, too, now that he thought about it. They were…intoxicating? Was that the word he was looking for?

Danny coughed. Maybe that's how Mindy got guys. Her eyes. They were a trap. A trap for the opposite sex to fall for.

He went back to the couch and thought about it for a moment. Jeremy fell for it (those two tried to keep it stealthy, but everyone in the office knew, those two couldn't keep a secret for shit), there was that guy, who was in the Marines, but that only lasted for a day, and Mindy tried to get him dishonorably discharged. Still, decent guy. Then, there was that kid who was a "minister", Stevie (thank God that ended), Brendan Douche-Laurier.

The thought of Mindy with Deslaurier made Danny swallow and tighten his grip on the glass. He sat forward, grinding his teeth. Mindy said that Deslaurier treated her badly. That fact alone made Danny want to punch him in the gut. Mindy was a good person, a little clingy at times, and a bit selfish, but she had a good heart. If Deslaurier couldn't see that, he was a dick. Well, he already was one, but the fact that he was a dick to Mindy made him even more of a dick.

Kind of like Danny was at the end of the party.

"Shit," he said to himself. He didn't even know where that whole "I never asked to be your friend" thing came from. It just…slipped out. They were friends. They certainly seemed like friends at the party. In the shower.

The shower. Jesus, he didn't even know how they got there. She was just poking around his house, not giving any thought to his privacy, per usual, and somehow, they ended up in his shower.

And he was so close to her and her perfumed smelled like lavender. He would bet his life it was one of those celebrity scent things, but he liked it, anyway. He couldn't focus on anything else, even when she was teasing him about dandruff and having a washcloth (what's so wrong with having a washcloth? It's normal. People have washcloths.) And all he wanted to do was push her hair back behind her ear.

It was all good until she had to go and open her big mouth to Alex about Christina. He was going to Alex about her. He was. He just never really found the right time. But, that didn't matter now. Mindy had done it for him and Alex was gone.

The best part was when Adam left. He just planted one right on her lips, for God and the world to see, in the middle of his living room. What kind of a person does that? A prostitute, that's who.

"In the middle of my living room," Danny growled as he downed the rest of his drink and winced as the alcohol burned him. He didn't even have time to react before it happened.

As it happened, because it was a fucking ridiculously long kiss, all he felt was this knot in his stomach. He didn't even know where it came from. It was either from the fight he was having with Alex, or the fact that Mindy and Adam the Prostitute were basically having sex in the middle of the living room.

All he wanted to do was punch the jackass. He just came out and said, "I'm a prostitute". The look on Mindy's face…she knew she had screwed up, again. And Adam didn't even think about her. God, she always dated immature assholes. Just for once, Danny would like to see her with a good guy. A guy who looked after her, was financially stable, could take care of her. A man. A man like him.

Wait, what?

A man like him? What was Danny thinking, a man like him? He and Mindy would _not _work. They were on two different ends of the spectrum of life. It would end in disaster. They would have to see each other at work and it would be awkward and the office would take sides and then one of them would have to quit because of the tension and it would probably end up being him because he was a gentleman, but in this economy, he wasn't really sure if the world was in need of another male OB/GYN at the moment. In short, a relationship with Mindy would lead to chaos.

He rubbed his face. Maybe he really did need to go to bed. He got up, left the glass on the coffee table, and headed to his room.

He stopped when he realized that he would have to see her on Monday. She wouldn't talk to him, not after he said that to her, unless it was completely necessary, maybe no even that. She would probably have Morgan talk to him for her, and then Morgan would ask questions and annoy him enough to finally get it out of him. And then, Morgan would tell everyone in the office and Danny would be seen as even more of a jerk than he already was. He didn't have time to deal with that.

Also, if Mindy didn't talk to him, who would? He was pretty confident that she was the only one who could tolerate him for a decent amount of time, and probably vice versa. And he liked the way she always had a stupid Meg What's-her-face movie on in the break room and the way she always had him read off what was in the snack machine. And Danny liked the way that, after an operation, she would be so pleased with herself that she wouldn't be so self-conscious and she would forget to put her contacts back in and leave on the glasses that he always thought suited her.

"Damn it, Mindy," he whispered as he walked over to his coat.

It took him ten minutes to walk to her house. There was no way he was paying fifteen buck to go a few blocks over. Plus, he needed the exercise and the cold air to sober him up a bit.

As he entered her apartment building and got on the elevator, he noticed that his palms were sweaty. Also, his heart was beating rapidly. What was going on with him?

He tried to ignore it, but it just got worse when the elevator dinged and he was on Mindy's floor, walking to her door. He paused, debating whether to do this or not. He shook his head and squared his shoulders. "Come on, Castellano. You can do this." He bounced around a bit, like in boxing, shaking out his nerves.

That all went to shit, fast, because as soon as Danny was in front of Mindy's door, his palms were so sweaty that when he rubbed them on his jeans, he could have sworn they left a wet spot. His heart was beating so fast that he was afraid that he might collapse, right in her hallway, like an idiot.

He looked down, cleared his throat, knocked on the door, and waited.

It was the longest seven seconds of his life.

He finally looked up when he heard the door open. Mindy was standing there, in an over-sized t-shirt and pajama pants, holding a pint of ice cream. Rocky Road, her favorite. Her hair was in a bun and she had mascara running down her cheeks.

_Shit. Did I do this?_ he asked himself. He resisted the urge to step forward and wrap himself around her. Instead, he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Hi."


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Back by demand. I want to thank you all for the kind words and support from the first part of this story. It _was _supposed to be a one-shot, truly, but you guys kept asking for what happens next, so, here you go. (This will most likely be the last part of this particular story, but I will be writing more Danny/Mindy. I love them.) -NZ**

"What do you want?" she said and he cringed. She didn't even sound vindictive or angry. She sounded broken.

"I wanted to see if you were okay," he said, stupidly. He wanted desperately for her to look into his eyes, but she just leaned against her door, avoiding his gaze.

"You shouldn't want to see if I'm okay."

"Why not?"

"We're not friends, Danny," she said softly. He just stood there, stunned to silence. "I think you should go."

"No, wait, Min—" he blurted out, but Mindy was shutting the door on him. He shoved his foot out to stop it. "_Mindy_."

She looked at him, then. And it finally hit him like a ton of bricks. God, it hurt him to see her this way. The light was gone from them. She had no fire in her anymore, nothing. She just seemed resigned.

And it was his fault.

They just stood there, in the quiet. Her just staring at him, him with his foot in the door. There was no way he was pulling it back. Because if he let that door close, he was letting it close forever. And he would be damned if he lost her. Not her. Not Mindy.

She sighed. "Danny, please. I'm really tired and I have a patient on stand by right now, so I need to get some sleep. Please."

He tensed his jaw and pressed his foot harder on the door. Mindy glanced at his foot, then back at him, and let go of the door. Danny stood still for a moment, wanting to make sure she wasn't playing a trick move, and then breathed out and stepped over her threshold.

He looked around and saw that she had opened a bottle of wine. _At least we think the same_. Danny then noticed the absence of a wine glass. She must have opened it, and then went straight for the ice cream.

Mindy was sitting on the couch, not doing anything, not even eating her Rocky Road, which was now melting pathetically on the coffee table.

_Shit, Castellano,_ he cursed to himself. _You really know how to scare them off, don't you? Two girls in one day? That's got to be some sort of record._

He stood there for a moment, not knowing what exactly to do. He was never really good with the whole comforting-a-woman thing. However, Danny wasn't sure that Mindy was in the mood to be comforted, anyway.

He cleared his throat. "Mindy, about tonight—"

"Can we _not _talk about that? I know I screwed up. I brought Adam to the party and that wasn't a good idea. I get that, all right? And I'm sorry that I told Alex about Christina. I thought she knew, honestly. I just…I fucked up," her voice cracked, "again."

With that, Danny was there, by her side, in a second. "No. No, you…." He sighed. She did fuck up, but it wasn't like he was going to tell her that. He wasn't that good at lying, either. "Adam's a jerk," he said. At least that was the truth. "He shouldn't have done that."

"What?"

"Kissed you in the middle of my living room. Right after he pronounced that he was a prostitute. I mean, what a dick move."

"Yeah, well. That kind of lives up to my track record, right? 'Mindy the Douche Dater'."

"How did you…?"

"The walls are pretty thin," she said flatly, still not looking at him.

Danny winced. He had to learn to keep his mouth shut that Mindy never forgot anything.

"Not my finest moment," he admitted. He glanced at her; a strand of hair was in her face. For the second time that night, he resisted the urge push it back and cup her face and….

He shook his head and looked at the wall and said, "Mindy, I'm sorry for what I said. Outside the apartment." This got a reaction from her. She faced him. He turned to her. "We are friends."

"But, I ruined you and Alex."

"Do you think I give two shits about my relationship with Alex—sorry, I know you must have some 'girl code', or something like that, that binds you to hate me forever when I say that. But right now, I don't care," he took a quick breath in when he saw that he was looking at him, wide-eyed. "It was going down that road, anyway. She was trying to change me, with hosting that party and all that."

"She was trying to get you to open up," Mindy explained.

"I don't want to be opened up."

"Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you tell her about Christina?"

"I don't know, Mindy. I really don't. I guess I was just scared. I mean, I told Eye Patch about her and looked how that turned out. I didn't want to make the same mistake again." _Not that it helped_, he added silently.

"I'm just going to be alone," Mindy said, curling her knees into her stomach. Danny didn't really know what to do, she looked like a child, and it just made him feel worse.

Danny scooted closer to her. "No, you won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'll be with you. Friends don't let friends be alone."

Mindy kind of smiled at that and Danny felt a huge weight being lifted off of his heart. He scooted closer, until their knees were touching.

Danny's hands started to sweat again.

"Why do I keep doing this?" Mindy asked. "Why do I get myself in these stupid situations. No wonder no one takes anything I do seriously."

"I take you seriously," he said. When she gave him a look, he continued, "You're one of the best doctors I know."

"That's great and all, Danny. But, being a great doctor isn't all that I want. I'm not you."

"What does that mean?"

Mindy let out a sigh. "You're so focused and dedicated, Danny. Work is all you need. You don't need people."

_I need you_, he wanted to say, but the words got caught in the throat. "I need people."

She shook her head. "No, you don't." She got up to find some tissues. "Your tombstone could say, 'Doctor Daniel Castellano: Great doctor, never let a patient down', and you would be okay with that. People are a nuisance to you, not a necessity."

Was that how she viewed her? A cold, unfeeling jackass? He didn't know how to react to that. Did he tell her that it wasn't true? He had feelings for people, if he didn't his divorce wouldn't have had the impact on him as it did. Christina…Christina tore him apart. The bitch made sure that he was on the ground when she left him.

Luckily, he didn't have to say anything, because Mindy was back on the couch, wiping her running mascara off with a Kleenex. "I wish I didn't need people," she said, "it would make my life so much easier."

Danny was silent, the knot in his stomach growing bigger, and it started to hurt, but Mindy continued. "I need to feel loved. I need to _be_ loved. It's…" her voice cracked. "It's my downfall."

She started crying, then, and the knot in his stomach was too much to bear. Without really thinking, he took her—her, sobbing Mindy Lahiri—in his arms and held her. He could feel her shaking on his chest and he pulled her in closer. "Shh…shh, it's okay. Everything's going to be okay," he whispered into her hair.

Danny held her like that for a long time. Mindy stopped crying after the first ten minutes, but she just let him hold her. And Danny felt…comfort in that. He had never felt like anyone truly _needed _him and tonight, he did.

After awhile, all he could hear was Mindy's steading breathing and his own beating heart. It was relaxing. The knot was gone.

"Min?" he whispered. "Mindy?"

He looked down and saw that Mindy was asleep. She looked peaceful, with her mouth slightly open and her right hand resting over his heart. He suddenly felt a rush of affection towards this woman, a woman that he was cursing not four hours previous.

"Alright," he said quietly to himself as he adjusted Mindy, careful not to wake her, off of his body. He stood up, stretched, and lifted her up in his arms, bride-over-threshold style. Mindy groaned slightly and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. He was surprised, because Mindy wasn't as heavy as she let on. He was hitting the gym a lot on his free time, seeing as that was a pretty decent way to let off some steam, but Mindy was lighter than he expected. Mindy was a lot of things other than what Danny expected, come to think about it.

Danny was hit by the scent of lavender. It overwhelmed him for a few seconds. He just stood there, holding her in his arms, in the middle of her living room, taking her in.

He broke himself out of his trance, or whatever it was, and headed to her bedroom. He placed her gently on the bed, wrapped a blanket around her, and moved her hair out of her face. He turned away to walk out of the room, but he turned back…just to check.

Mindy's arm had rested on the pillow, and half her face was buried in it. This was Mindy. Sure, she was loud, pushy, and obnoxious about celebrity relationships, but she was also the woman that was quiet when she was thinking about something, _really _thinking about something. She was the one whose laugh carried through the office and made Danny chuckle to himself, even if he wasn't in the room. This was the woman who was grumpy if she didn't get her coffee in the morning (even though it wasn't really coffee. Some espresso-latte crap.) This is the woman who smiled at every single one of Betsy's jokes, even if they were horrible, and who put up with Reed being an arrogant asshat.

She was everything he wasn't. And Danny admired that about her.

He came over to her once again, rearranged the covers, and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. "Goodnight, Mindy," he said. _You are loved_. He bit his lip, walked out the room, and shut the doors behind him.

Danny quickly put the now-melted ice cream back in the freezer and put the cork back in the bottle and placed it on the rack that Mindy had next to the fridge.

After that, he headed towards the door. He checked to make sure that the lock on the door was working; this was New York City, after all.

His hand was placed on the knob when he took in one last deep breath. Lavender. He smiled to himself and walked out of the apartment.


End file.
